ATI to strengthen democracy—Minister
Minister of Information Gospel Kazako said on tuesday that operationalisation of Access to Information Act will strengthen democracy in Malawi.
The minister, who was the guest of honour at the First Research National Conference on Library and Information Science held in Mangochi, said the conference’s theme ‘The Role of Libraries and Information Services in the Attainment of the Access to Information Law (Act)’ was crucial to the country’s democracy.
He said: “Access to Information Act in itself recognises the role of information professionals. For instance, librarians, archivists and documentalists specialise in the organisation of information itself. You are very important people because we cannot talk about easy access to information if it is not organised.”
Kazako said the government was ready to engage individuals including information professionals and listen to their views, suggestions and proposals on how best access to information should be a fully functional right for every Malawian.
“Access to information is not enough in itself if the information managers like you and all users are not responsible. It should be clear that we are not talking about accessing information in order to abuse it. We are not talking about accessing and distorting information in order to promote fake news,” he said.
On his part, Mzuzu University vice-chancellor John Saka acknowledged that collaboration will be critical in making progress in information access.
“This is just the beginning, we would work together with the government and ensure that the next conference should have a broader scope of research to inform the practice and continue engaging the government through the Ministry of Information,” he said.
The conference, where 44 well-researched papers were presented, brought together 110 participants, including academics, students, researchers, knowledge managers, library and information professionals.
Participants discussed, shared knowledge and insights, and showcased research outputs on how to effectively and successfully attain access to information as provided for in the Access to Information Act.
The conference was organised by Mzuzu University and Malawi Library Association with funding from OId Mutual Malawi plc, Malawi Research and Education Network and Minet.
Section 37 of the Constitution provides for freedom of information which also entails access to information held by the State and its organs as a right for every citizen. Since 1995, little progress was made in making this constitutional provision a reality until in 2013 when a National Access to Information Policy was adopted by government, and later the Access to Information Law was enacted in 2017.
